Charge indicator for gas guns



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. S. WALLACE. CHARGE INDICATOR FOR GAS GUNS.

No. 480,156. Patented Aug. 2, 1892.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. S. WALLACE.

CHARGE INDICATOR FOR GAS GUNS.

No. 480,156. Patented Aug. 2, 1892. x

STATES .IOIIN STEWVART \VALLAOE, OF BELFAST, IRELAND.

CHARGE-INDICATOR FOR GAS-GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,156, dated August 2, 1892.

Application filed March 14, 1891. fierial No. 385,081- (No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN STEWART \VAL- LACE, timber merchant, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guns, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawthe compressed air or other gas.

lily invention relates to indicators or counters for use in connection with reservoirs designed to contain compressed or liquefied gases for working guns, rifles, and other engines or apparatus wherein such gases are, employed as the propelling force or motivepower.

My invention is chiefly designed to afiord at any time an indication of the quantity of 1 power that has been used or that remains available for use.

In applying my said invention to a rifle or other apparatus constructed to be worked by gas or air compressed 1n a reservoir af- 0 a dial or otherwise such discharge or work- I ing. suitable means for automatically returning The counter is preferably provided with I the hand or pointer to its starting position or zero when the reservoir is removed to be re- 5 charged, or the said hand or pointer may be released by hand or by the performance of any of the operations necessary in the working of the rifle or apparatus.

My said invention can be advantageously applied to a gun of the kind or class commonly known as the Gift'ard gun.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal central section on the line y y, Fig. 2, some of the parts being shown in elevation, of a gun of the aforesaid kind or class provided with my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line y Fig. 1. Fig. 3 1s a transverse section on the line ,2' .2, Fig. 1. Fig. l

is a sectional elevation of a slight modification of the counting device.

Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

A is the barrel of the gun.

B is the breech.

O isthe stock.

D is the hammer, and E is the reservoir for b is a suitably-graduated dial, which is inserted into and secured in a recess O',formed in the breech B.

c is a hand, index, or pointer secured upon a square portion of a spindle e, which is carried by bearings formed in the dial 6 and in the breech B.

w is a worm-wheel also firmly secured to the spindle e. The worm-wheel w gears with a worm w, formed on or firmly secured to a 1 spindle :0 supported at one end in a suitable bearing provided in the breech B and at the other end by a movable piece y. The said movable piece is pivoted at g to the breech.

x is a ratchet-wheel formed on or firmly secured to the spindle With this ratchetwheel gears a pawl z, which is pivoted at 2 to a block or piece 2 The said block 2 is or screw 5, which passes through a slot 2, provided in the block, and is secured to the breech. By this arrangement the block 2 is capable of a certain amount of free sliding movement.

26 is a disk rotatably supported in the breech l3 and having a projection .2 with which engages the hammer D in such a manner that when the latter is cocked the disk 2 is caused to rotate through a portion of a revolution.

Z8 is an arm or projection formed on or firmly secured to the said disk 2 and adapted to engage in a slot or recess z in the slide piece or block 2 WVhen the hammer is cocked and the disk 2 partially rotated, as above described, the projection 2 operates to depress the block 2 and thereby operates through the pawl .2" and ratchet-wheel 00 to rotate the spindle 00 through a certain angle, which latter moves or adjusts the hand, index, or pointer maintained against the breech by a pin-stud ,0 relatively to the dial 1) by means of the worm w, worm-wheel w, and spindle e. On the return of the disk .2 to its initial position, which return movementis effected by a spring when the hammer D is released, the slide block or piece .2 is raised again and the pawl z engages with a fresh tooth on the ratchetwheel 00 and is then ready to move the ratchet-wheel another tooth when the hammer is again cocked.

It is obvious that as the finger c is moved each time the hammer is cooked and then released the said finger will indicate how often such release has taken place, and the dial is so graduated that the reading of the finger thereon will indicate how much power has been thereby removed from the reservoir.

r, Fig. 3, is a fiat ribbon or coiled spring, one extremity of which is secured to the dial Z) and the other extremity of which is secured to the worm-wheel w or spindle e, the said spring being arranged to be wound up, compressed, or have energy stored up in it during the rotation of the said spindle e by the mechanism above described.

11 is a rod, one extremity of which is connected to the aforesaid pivoted piece y and the other extremity thereof is arranged to extend into the recess B so that when the reservoir E (which is arranged in a hole or recess provided in the interior of the stock 0) is in position it will bear against the said extremity of the said rod 1 and thereby maintain the pivoted piece y in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, and consequently the worm x in gear with the worm-wheel to. When, however, the said reservoir E is removed to be refilled or recharged or for the substitution of a fresh reservoir, the rod 1 not being supported, will allow the pivoted piece 1 to drop into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, in which position the worm :0 is disengaged from the worm-wheel 20. As soon as such disengagement takes place, the hand, index, or pointer c returns to zero or to its starting-point under the reaction of the spring 4".

It is desirable that the counting device should not be worked when the hammer D is raised and lowered quietly by handthat is to say, without being freely released in the ordinary manner. For this purpose I so arrange the pawl z and ratchet-wheel x that the former does not rise sufficiently to engage with a fresh tooth of the latter under such circumstances as above instaneed, but only retreats far enough to engage with a fresh tooth when the hammer is suddenly let go by the trigger and allowed to release a charge from the reservoir.

Instead of using a worm-wheel engaging with the endless screw or Worm ac, hereinbefore mentioned, I sometimes use the device shown in Fig. 4, Where 0: is the endless screw or worm, constructed and operated as above described.

o is a portion of a nut mounted on a guiderod "0* and engaging with the worm m. The said nut is moved in a longitudinal direction parallel to the axis of the Worm when the latter is rotated. The nut 0) may be furnished with a pointer 0, adapted to move over a scale I), or it may carry a scale of numbers, which are moved successively behind a plate with a window in it, thus showing by the number visible through the window how many discharges have taken place. The said nut 11 is, moreover, constructed to compress a spring T when it is moved by the worm or endless screw, so that when the said worm is thrown out of gear with the said nut upon the removal of the reservoir the said spring will act to restore the pointer to its zero-point or initial position.

In some cases the counter or registering device is so arranged as to indicate at the commencement the maximum number of charges the gas or air in the reservoir will project or propel, and the finger or pointer c is arranged to move at each discharge toward zero, thus enabling the amount of power remaining in the reservoir to be ascertained at any time by a simple reading of the dial.

I sometimes employ a Vernier-scale in connection with the dial to facilitate the reading of small movements of the index-finger.

The device can be applied to any apparatus Worked by means such as described in which compressed-air or gas reservoirs are employed for providing the energy required.

WVhat I claim is- 1. In a gun, the combination, with a hammer and a reservoir for compressed or liquefied gas, of indicating or counting mechanism and devices engaging said mechanism and said hammer and operated by the movement of the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a hammer and a reservoir for compressed or liquefied gas, of a counter or indicator comprising an indexfinger and an endless screw engaged therewith and actuated by the movement of the hammer, substantially as described.

3. In a gun, the combination, with a hammer and a reservoir for compressed or liquefied gas, of a counter or indicator comprising an index-finger, a movable endless screw engaged therewith and actuated by the movement of the hammer, and a movable piece supporting said endless screw connected with the reservoir, substantially as described.

4-. In a gun, the combination, with a hammer and a reservoir for compressed or liquefied gas, of indicating or counting mechanism comprising a rotatable disk having a projection for engaging said hammer, a sliding piece engaging a second projection on the rotatable disk, an index-finger, an endless screw carrying a ratchet-Wheel, and a pawl on the sliding piece engaging said ratchetwheel, substantially as described.

5. In a gun, the combination, with a reservoir E for compressed or liquefied gas, a my name in the presence of two subscribing counter or indicator, and the frame inwhich witnesses.

the said reservoir and indicator are mounted, JOHN STEXVART WALLACE. of a rod 3 that engages with the reservoir Witnesses:

and with a pivoted bearing 3 that supports F. L. BALL,

one end of the worm-shaft that actuates the Secretary, Oopthall Road, London, E. O. indicator, as and for the purpose specified. R. GALLON,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed 9 Birch'in Lane, London, E. C. 

